Northwestern Glacier in Alaska, 1940 compared to 2005. With few exceptions, glaciers around the world have retreated at unprecedented rates over the last century.

Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica. October 2013 compared to November 2013. An iceberg estimated to be 35 by 20 kilometers separated between November 9 and 11. Designated "B-31," it is about 50% larger than its predecessors in this area.

Bahr al Milh is a salt sea in Iraq, shown here in 1995, 2003 and 2013. Water levels of this shallow lake vary with the seasons, but levels have been drastically low year-round in the past decade.

Toboggan Glacier, Alaska. June 29, 1909 versus September 4, 2000.

Rondônia is part of the Brazilian Amazon, on the border with Bolivia, shown here in 1975 versus 2009. Within the Brazilian Amazon, Rondônia has the highest deforestation rate.

Artificial land in Singapore, in 1973 compared to 2009. Between 1973 and 2009, Singapore created new land for airports, shipping and oil refineries. Also visible are new cities, causeways, reservoirs, and golf courses.

The Black Forest Fire near Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the most destructive wildfire in the state's history. These photos show April 2013 compared to June 2013.

Atop the Cotopaxi Volcano in Ecuador--at 5,897 meters (19,347 feet), one of the tallest active volcanoes on Earth--sits the Cotopaxi Glacier. Here is the melt between March 1986 and February 2007.

Terrifying Before And After Pictures Of How Climate Change Is Already Destroying The Planet

From NASA comes this sobering collection of photos and satellite images about the incredible changes the planet has gone through in less than a century.

It's easy enough to ignore—or even deny—climate change when its effects don't impact your daily life. That superstorm? Must have been a fluke. The big drought? Things like that just happen every so often. So if statistics and admonishments from scientists don't do it for you, maybe these startling before and after photos from NASA will.

The Images of Change iPad app features the best before-and-after images from NASA’s Global Climate Change website—that is, the best images that show the dramatic impacts wrought by climate change. You can watch Alaska's Northwestern Glacier melt, look on as Colorado's High Park Fire chars the landscape, and see how Kilimanjaro's snowpack declines over seven short years.

If this doesn't convince you that there's a problem, maybe nothing will.

Ariel Schwartz is a Senior Editor at Co.Exist. She has contributed to SF Weekly, Popular Science, Inhabitat, Greenbiz, NBC Bay Area, GOOD Magazine and more. For story ideas: ariel[at]fastcompany.com Continued

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I still think many people have a hard time conceptualizing what climate change is. You can show facts, photos, etc. But it is still an abstraction in the minds of many. Like cancer, for example. We know it exists empirically. We know it is absolutely terrible. But for those not affected, it doesn't exactly hit home.

For real change to happen, we are going to actually have to feel and live it. We are too cushioned by relatively low gas prices, low food prices, and the like. Until the safety bubble pops, we are still living relatively comfortable within this new environment.

For others, the direct impacts of global climate change can not be avoided and thus understand its real impact.